Vladimir Valentinov: Teenage Vampire

Prologue

My first day at the palace was unlike any other, and my first day like my father was even stranger. I didn’t know what my father was, or even who he was when I first met him, but I do know that my going with him to the palace ended up being one of the best decision that I ever made.

It was a dark day, unlike any other, but it was the best day of my life.

            My name is Vladimir Valentinov, and I am a teenage vampire.

            Now, you’re probably thinking that what I just said is a complete lie, and that I’m trying to trick you for some unknown reason to you. I promise, though, that I am telling the truth. I really am part of the life that is called the undead. (Yes, I know, that’s somewhat confusing. You get used to it after about a hundred years.)

            I’ve been around for quite a while, so I’ve become privy to quite a few things: one thing being that most vampires don’t exactly get along with humans. I guess I’m not like most other vampires. My best friend is completely human…or, at least he was when I first met him.

His name is Billy. I met him about a hundred years ago. He’s not very old compared to me, but he’s pretty wise for his age. He was only 19 when I met him, but he’s 23 now. We’d only known each other for about a year when he asked me to turn him.

Of course, I said no at first. Being a vampire is not something that I would wish upon anybody, especially my best friend. But after three more years, I agreed. He’d seen what I go through, how I act during certain time periods (mostly at night, but it gets worse around the full moon), and he still wanted to be turned. So I turned him.

But that’s not the story I’m here to tell. Billy shows up a little later, but it starts out before I was even a vampire.

It was around midnight on Halloween (yes, I know, totally generic, but it’s the truth) when I walked past an alley and saw something moving in the shadows. I already had pretty good eyesight for a human, so of course I was the only one out of my small group of friends that saw it. It was also a full moon that night. (I swear it’s a coincidence.)

No one else believed me when I told them that there was something there, and they just kept walking. (Some friends, right?) My curiosity pulled me to it. I stepped toward the alley, looked toward my friends as they walked away, and then looked back.

And that was when I stepped into the shadows.